Confirmed Trade: [MIN/PIT] Jason Zucker for 2021 1st round pick, Alex Galchenyuk, and Calen Addison

[Dangles78]

Most of JR’s great trades happened in 2015 or so. His history over the last 5 years has been pretty mediocre at best.

Ummm Sprong for Pettersson. 6th Round pick for Marino. Maatta for Kahun.

 

[didimentionlarseller]

Lol Galchenyuk, everyone gets a turn.. feel bad for the guy, Habs and Therrien ruined him.

He only has 5 less goals than Crosby midway thru the season

 

[Dangles78]

He only has 5 less goals than Crosby midway thru the season

You can't be that ignorant, right?

 

[didimentionlarseller]

You can't be that ignorant, right?

I’ve watched the entire pens season minus 4-5 games

 

[Vinegar Strokes]

You’d trade Rakell for a late 1st, a contract dump, and a B prospect? I’m glad you’re not the GM. We got the same thing without having to take a contract back for Montour who is a fifth of the player Rakell is and people were mad.

He’s not a B prospect, that’s why you’re getting this wrong.

It’s not the return I would hope for but it wouldn’t be a bad return.

 

[didimentionlarseller]

Wow McCann with Crosby over Zucker in OT

 

[Bazeek]

Wow McCann with Crosby over Zucker in OT

Zucker's never been all that great 3v3.

 

[Prior]

Wow McCann with Crosby over Zucker in OT

Zucker is not a good 3/3 option with his hands and puck possession. Plus, first game with new team chemistry, easy to see why he may have been left off.

Pens fans, how’d he do? His legs haven’t appeared to be back since his injury prior to the trade. Still struggling?

 

[DearDiary]

Zucker is not a good 3/3 option with his hands and puck possession. Plus, first game with new team chemistry, easy to see why he may have been left off.

Pens fans, how’d he do? His legs haven’t appeared to be back since his injury prior to the trade. Still struggling?

He looked like Carter with Crosby at the 2010 Olympics.

 

[HandsomeTom43]

I don't know the prospects involved but based on the discussion, I don't think the Pens will regret this trade regardless of another Cup or not, so I would say both sides walk away happy. I, as a Caps fan, don't like it because Zucker can easily be a difference maker. That being said, let's not pretend JR has been amazing the past few seasons with his moves, guy's been eating idiot sandwiches at various points. Before the Pens get their panties in a bunch, let me just say that the legacy he will leave in Pittsburgh will be great and well-deserved.

 

[BigVegas17]

Good logical trade for both sides.

And anytime people (Pens fans or otherwise) start bashing Rutherford, I calmly remind them that he turned Sprong and a 6th into a 22/23-year-old already-stout second pairing...

 

[NuxFan09]

It's cool that the Penguins are going for it yet again, but geez, yet another first round draft pick and prospect from an already anemic pool bites the dust.

Things are going to get very ugly in Pittsburgh post-Crosby and Malkin.

 

[AKL]

It's cool that the Penguins are going for it yet again, but geez, yet another first round draft pick and prospect from an already anemic pool bites the dust.

Things are going to get very ugly in Pittsburgh post-Crosby and Malkin.

Things are going to get very ugly regardless of whether they keep all their late round picks. That's why they're maximizing their chances to win more Cups while those two are around. If there's one team that should be going all in every year, it's Pittsburgh.

 

[bleuetbio]

Things are going to get very ugly in Pittsburgh post-Crosby and Malkin.

They know how to deal with hockey. Win all you can, be ugly and draft a Crosby - Malkin again. I would dream of a team who wants to win it all, and not just win a playoff spot.

 

[Mr Positive]

Great trade. Zucker has term so hes not a comparable to the rentals. Not your typical deadline deal

 

[66-30-33]

They know how to deal with hockey. Win all you can, be ugly and draft a Crosby - Malkin again. I would dream of a team who wants to win it all, and not just win a playoff spot.

We probably wont get another Crosby/Malkin for a very long time, it was just perfect timing.

 

[Trade]

Zucker's never been all that great 3v3.

McCann has a few OT game-winners this year on the ice with Sid So it made perfect sense. Especially considering how Zucker was playing without hands tonight.

 

[VanJack]

Crosby and Malkin are on the other side of 30 now.....the window is closing fast....and at the rate Rutherford is flushing draft picks and prospects, the hard landing is going to be particularly painful.....but I guess he'll probably be retired by the time the chickens come home to roost.

 

[mikeyp24]

Honestly know nothing about addison and didnt see anything when I skimmed the thread much earlier. Comparables and short player summary?

 

[Riptide]

Ummm Sprong for Pettersson. 6th Round pick for Marino. Maatta for Kahun.

Right? LOL.

 

[Riptide]

Pens fans, how’d he do? His legs haven’t appeared to be back since his injury prior to the trade. Still struggling?

Call it a C+ / B-

Struggled a little. Legs were decent but we rarely saw that high end speed. However he did force a few turnovers, but you could see that things weren't clicking all that well. JZ was trying to force a few things and other than one good chance ended up with a lot of pucks in his skates. Pens however do not play until Friday so they have some time to work on things.

Overall it wasn't really a surprise. Sure you want the guy to come in and light things up, but I was fine with how things went. Re-assess in 4-5 games once he has more than a dozen shifts or so with Crosby.

 

[Riptide]

It's cool that the Penguins are going for it yet again, but geez, yet another first round draft pick and prospect from an already anemic pool bites the dust.

Things are going to get very ugly in Pittsburgh post-Crosby and Malkin.

Odds are they were going to be ugly anyway. Keeping Addison and that 1st doesn't change that very much unless they're lucky enough to draft a couple someones like C.Giroux at 22 or whatnot... but that doesn't happen all that often. So after you run the odds... zero issues with them having a rough re-build in 5/7 years or whatever. We Pen fans got to see a team stay on top for 15+ seasons, 4 cup finals and 3 cups (and counting ). I'll happily trade that off for whatever pain comes next.

Crosby and Malkin are on the other side of 30 now.....the window is closing fast....and at the rate Rutherford is flushing draft picks and prospects, the hard landing is going to be particularly painful.....but I guess he'll probably be retired by the time the chickens come home to roost.

It's fascinating that people keep posting this as if Pittsburgh fans care. We've had 15 (so far) successful seasons with 4 trips to the finals and 3 cups. We could bounce out in the 1st/2nd round for the rest of Crosby and Malkin's careers and then have a 5-9 yr rebuild after that... and it will all still have been worth the cups. I mean there's many teams in the league who've never ever won 3 cups or been to the finals multiple times... let alone with the same stars/group. As Penguin fans we've been extremely spoiled and whatever happens down the road is a price most will happily pay for the memories, joy and excitement that Crosby and company provided.

Rutherford had to make a move to help them out - especially after Guentzel went down for the season... Pittsburgh is playing fantastic hockey (for the most part) and they're doing it despite dealing with consistent injuries to top players all season long. I don't know where they stand in the man-games-lost ranking, but am pretty certain it's easily in the top 2-3. For CHIP they're #1. And despite that they're 4th in the league. So yeah Rutherford had to pay the price to bring in someone to help them out.

 

[TaLoN]

Wow McCann with Crosby over Zucker in OT

Zucker is a TERRIBLE 3on3 OT player.

McCann has a few OT game-winners this year on the ice with Sid So it made perfect sense. Especially considering how Zucker was playing without hands tonight.

Zucker doesn't have great hands. He isn't a great puck handler, nor a good passer. He has only one legit tool in his toolbox to work with, and that's his speed.

He has a decent but inaccurate shot.

He fumbles a lot of pucks sent his way, which is why he struggles in established zone situations. He's at his best in transition, not so much in an established zone in the cycle. That's also why he's never been a very good PP player.

 

[3074326]

I’ve watched the entire pens season minus 4-5 games

Ok, so you're aware of how terrible your point was, then. Galchenyuk has pretty much been the worst Penguin this entire season.

And, you know, Galchenyuk has played in 46 games vs. Sid's 27.

 

[AKL]

Honestly know nothing about addison and didnt see anything when I skimmed the thread much earlier. Comparables and short player summary?

Hard to say about his comparables, at this point I've heard anything from a less physical Letang to a more offensively dominant version of Ray Bourque... on Addison's bad days.

For real though, from what I've read these last couple days, it sounds like he's a great skater, smart (especially on offense), has a good shot, great passer, puck moving guy. I've read that he's had defensive struggles but has come a long way since being drafted in that regard. One comparison I've seen is Tyson Barrie.

Projection is pretty consistently a 2nd pairing, PPQB. Sounds like we can hope for 40-50ish points.